


In Mute Silence

by monkiainen



Series: This Bloody Road [3]
Category: Fast and the Furious Series
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, Kidnapping, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Sensory Deprivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-12
Updated: 2014-01-12
Packaged: 2018-01-08 11:51:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1132314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monkiainen/pseuds/monkiainen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A nightly fire changes Dom and Brian's life for good. Question is, can they salvage their life back the way it were?</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Mute Silence

**Author's Note:**

> An oldie-but-goldie; Brian or Dom are kidnapped/missing. What starts out as, "Nobody touches my family!" soon turns into , "Holy shit if he's dead I'm going to DIE OF SAD." More of a focus on the anguish of losing someone they love, the thought of not getting there on time, flipping out over situations, etc. Established relationship or realizing it as-they-go, either works. (for round 14 @ smallfandomfest)

_Frantic screams, smell of burning, flames hotter than he had ever felt before. It hurt so bad it almost started to feel good… and then nothing. Soundless void, no feelings, only despair. Where was he? Why he was so alone? What happened? And most importantly - where was Dom?_

~ ~ ~

Dom didn’t believe in coincidences. He had seen too much in his life that everything out of ordinary smelled fishy to him. And the fire that had taken down their home was anything but a coincidence. When you crossed paths with people like Owen Shaw there were always going to be consequences of the worst kind. Miraculously no one had died, even if the fire had started in the middle of the night.

Still, something wasn’t right. Dom had this terrible feeling that something was amiss – he just didn’t know what it was.

“Has anyone seen Brian?”

Oh God.

~ ~ ~

_When he wakes, he’s alone in a cold, damp room with nothing but a rusty old cot in it. He has no idea for long how long he has been there, or even how he ended up there in the first place. His head hurts, and when Brian feels the back of his head there’s an egg-sized lump where there shouldn’t be one. The woolly taste in his mouth had to be chloroform; a bit old-fashioned maybe, but it had done the trick._

_"Well, you're finally awake. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this day to come."_

_Oh shit._

~ ~ ~

Later on, when Dom looks back to those terrifying days, all he remembers is the all-consuming panic that takes over him the instant he realizes Brian is nowhere to be seen. He doesn’t remember getting into Charger and driving around the city in loops that take him nowhere for hours, nor does he remember how he got home _(Home? Where is home, if Brian is not there with him, sharing his life? It’s nothing but burned remains of a house they lived in.)_ two days later. Nobody has seen or heard about Brian – it is as if he has mysteriously disappeared from the face of earth. Finally Mia has enough and orders Dom to “Sleep for fuck’s sake, you are no use to us if you drop dead from exhaustion!” and sends him to bed with promises that they will continue their search tomorrow.

But sleep evades Dom as he can’t shut down his mind from the constant stream of “what ifs” invading his every thought. Images of Brian tortured, beaten to pulp, **DEAD** are flashing in his mind’s eye, and Dom can only pray that the reality isn’t as gruel as his mind makes it up to be.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…”

~ ~ ~

_Brian couldn’t decide which was worst: the never-ending darkness or the lack of any sounds in the **small room? box? whatever it** was they had put him in. He has no idea of how long he has been there, nor how long he will stay there - hell, he’s not even sure he’s alive anymore. Maybe he’s already dead, which is why he can’t see or hear anything. That would also explain the lack of other people, as no one has come in for what feels like eons. He feels hungry and thirsty though, so perhaps he’s not as dead as he think is? Or maybe he’s a ghost, trapped somewhere between life and death, not knowing which world is the one he belongs to._

_Brian has never felt so detached from life before._

~ ~ ~

Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months. One by one, each and every member of La Famiglia starts to lose faith that Brian would ever return to them alive. Everyone else expect Dom. He refuses to believe that Brian is dead – as long as he’s not presented with Brian’s unmoving corpse, in his mind Brian is still very much alive.

However, the cold, unwavering truth is that Dom has no idea what to do next. He has spent countless sleepless nights trying to find even the slightest clue where Brian is or who has taken him. _(Dom bets it’s connected to Shaw somehow, even though he has no way to prove it)_. Maybe he’s a fool, for seeing conspiracies and hidden meanings in the most mundane things _(Shaw’s crew is still in prison as far as he knows, but it doesn’t mean a thing )_. 

In a last desperate attempt Dom does something he never thought he would do – he contacts the only person he thinks might be able to help him, even if it hurts him that he hasn’t been able to help Brian on his own. But if Dom losing his self-confidence means he can finally found out what happened to Brian it’s a price he’s more than willing to pay.

And so his path crosses with Luke Hobbs once again.

~ ~ ~

_slowly, slowly, the key of time is turning. brokenbrokenbroken he is broken the lock is broken there’s no way in or out but it doesn’t matter because he doesn’t really exist anymore. he’s not sure if he has ever existed in the first place or was it all just a figment of his imagination. (is he a he at all? what is he? silence is mutemutemute he has no sound no one will hear him there are no words) what are words?_

_whywhywhywhywhywhy_

_DOM._

~ ~ ~

There’s an understanding between Dom and Hobbs. Dom will not do anything monumentally stupid, as long as Hobbs helps him to find Brian. There’s something else as well, though, something Dom can’t pinpoint what it is exactly. All he knows that he will be forever grateful for the agent for agreeing to help him, even if the other man has no reason to do so. In all fairness, Hobbs should have declined him on sight, but for some reason he didn’t.

Dom doesn’t know any more if the God he thought existed is listening to his prayers. He begs and pleads and threatens and curses but still there is no sign of Brian. Luke is always there, offering a silent comfort that neither of them acknowledges in words _(and when did Hobbs became “Luke” is a mystery to Dom)_. Until one day, miracles happen.

It’s only by pure luck that a former associate of Shaw’s is captured in a narcotics raid. The weasel is more than happy to spill the beans to shorten his sentence, and even before he has revealed where Brian is, Dom and Luke are already on their way in the Charger.

Before Dom steps in to the gloomy looking house, Luke pulls him aside, telling him that whatever it is that he founds inside, he better be prepared for it. God knows what has been done to Brian, or if he’s even alive. Dom merely nods before taking a deep breath, preparing himself mentally for what might wait him behind the closed doors.

The house is empty and dark and silent and for a moment Dom feels rage against the petty criminal who directed them there. It’s all a lie, and Brian is not here, despite all the promises they were given. Dom growls under his breath, all the frustration and mourning exploding in seconds. He grabs the first thing his hand meet _(a rusty poker that bends dangerously in his grip)_ , smashing everything he can reach. Dom doesn’t know how much time has passed until Luke grabs him by the arm, forcing Dom to stop for a moment. They both know if they were to challenge each other the fight would be equal for once _(for it’s rare to either of the men to find an opponent equally strong and adept in fighting)_.

“Listen.”

And there it is, a sound of someone coughing, as if they couldn’t get enough air.

~ ~ ~

Sensory deprivation tank. That’s what they called… the **thing** they found Brian in. No lights, no sounds, nothing resembling a human contact. A void, created to make its poor prisoners mad. They have no idea what’s left of Brian’s mind after so many weeks inside the tank. Dom should be happy that Brian’s still alive, but he can’t, he won’t.

“He’s strong. He will make through this.”

Dom can only pray that Luke is right.


End file.
